Mela
2000 · Directed by Dharmesh Darshan
Original language: Hindi
- action
- adventure
- comedy
- drama
- romance
The story
Best mates Kishen and Shankar decide to help village belle Roopa avenge her family's death, but their friendship is tested in the process.
What it’s like
Bright, saturated 1990s Bollywood colour: sunlit village lanes, dusty fairground stalls strung with bunting, and the hot, open glare of rural daylight, with brief shifts into darker, more confrontational scenes. Frequent, lively song-and-dance numbers break up the story, and the camera moves with them in sweeping crane shots and quick cuts. The score is melodic and percussive, built on big orchestral swells and dholak rhythms, so the film sounds as cheerful as it looks. The mood is buoyant and loose, a mix of romance, broad comedy and a revenge story that keeps returning to a warm, teasing friendship between two young men. Pacing is brisk but leisurely in the musical sections, and the tone stays mostly light even when the plot turns serious. Violence is present in the action and revenge sequences: fistfights, brawls and chase scenes played with stylised, cartoonish energy rather than gore, with some menace and a few tense moments. Sexual content is limited to romantic flirtation and chaste courtship. It suits a lazy weekend afternoon, a comfort rewatch, or a group watch, and it will appeal to viewers who enjoy old-school musicals, colourful spectacle and buddy-film chemistry.
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